Romney, RNC lead in cash on hand

Romney and Republican National Committee have more cash in the bank than Obama and the Democratic National Committee after pummeling their counterparts two months in a row.

Romney also proved in June that he’s able to bring in heaps of cash from small-dollar donors — an area long considered Obama’s turf.

When combined with Republicans’ massive super PAC cash advantage, the GOP fundraising surge spells trouble for the White House, which is relying on hard money and a groundswell of small donations to give Obama four more years.

Romney’s campaign and its allied fundraising committees reported $170 million in cash reserves at the end of June. That’s $26 million more than Obama and the top Democratic committees had in their coffers, according to the latest campaign finance reports released Friday.

Part of the reason for Romney’s cash advantage is that Obama outspent the Republican by $50 million over the last three months as part of the strategy to define Romney before he can gain traction.